Thus, at the end of the poem, Yeats uses words to suggest that Leda has made a full transformation from weak women to one with a sexual assertiveness that can only be described as a shudder and a power that is greater than Zeus's. Through this suggestion, Yeats also points out that women are different than the Greek's conception of them in the myth. Instead of being weak, his word choices argue that they are powerful enough to overcome even the greatest of powerful men, and that this struggle to become powerful is what makes them gain that ability.
Finally, the structure of Yeats' poem itself suggests Leda's eventual rise from a weak, sexually conquered, "staggering girl" (2), to a strong, sexually assertive woman. This can be seen, first, through the chronological nature of the poem. Content, imagery, and word choice all trace Leda's evolution in a chronological fashion. In the fist stanza, Leda is the weaker of the two -- her thighs are captured by the swan and her neck is in its beak. In the last stanza, however, Leda is the stronger. She has captured the swan's knowledge and power, leaving him weak enough to drop her. In between these two stanzas, Yeats traces her journey and struggle to power and sexual assertiveness. Thus, through structure, Yeats not only points out that Leda is, indeed, strong, but also he suggests that the processes that she goes through to obtain her strength are just as important as the end result. This is true for two reasons. First, Yeats implies Leda's true strength by allowing her to prove that newly acquired strength against someone who has had it for years. That is, by allowing Lena to, in a sense, conquer the swan that had just moments ago held her life in its hands through her newfound strength, Yeats suggests that Leda's strength is even more profound. Second, Yeats' attention to the journey suggests that women are not necessarily born with inherent strength and sexual assertiveness, as he seems to imply men are, but that they can acquire it through certain actions. He further implies that gaining strength and sexual assertiveness this way is more effective than simply having an inherent strength, as Leda is proved to be stronger than the swan at the end of the poem.
In addition to chronology, Yeats' is structure proves his suggestion regarding women's strength and sexual assertiveness in two other ways. First, Yeats uses a visual technique...
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